KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

Hey all,

Hope you don't mind me stopping by and getting some discussion started for the game this coming Saturday!

I think most UC fans are incredibly excited because not only is URI a very talented team and should be a good litmus test, but a win means a match-up with Duke rather than PSU. From an RPI standpoint this is a huge game for both squads as I think both our conference slates leave a bit to be desired.

I'll be completely honest and mention that I have never seen this URI core play. From what I've read they appear to have some high-level talent led by Matthews and I'm at least familiar with Jared Terrell as UC recruited him for a bit in high school. Any additional insight would be much appreciated!

As far as UC, we are led by Troy Caupain, Gary Clark and Jacob Evans. Both Caupain (Preseason POY in the AAC) and Clark were 1st team picks, but Evans is by far the team's best player. He's a incredibly talented 6'6 SG that has looked like a future NBA player to start his sophomore year. In general, the team is athletic and tenacious on the defensive end just like all Cronin teams. I'm curious to see how the offense looks against a stout defensive squad like URI. Should be fun!

Welcome to KeaneyBlue!

One of the few differences I could spot when comparing stats from each of our teams' first two games was minutes distribution.

Seems URI is able to sustain high enough play from their 2nd squad to keep 1st team mins reasonable around 24mpg (this will be higher on Saturday, of course).

How would you describe the Cats' depth and how that will work out against a Rhody team that can keep their players fresh in pressure half court defense?

UC has more bodies on the interior but the quality of player is definitely better on the perimeter.

You'll see five guys get solid minutes on the perimeter: Caupain, Evans, Jenifer, Johnson and Cumberland. Caupain and Evans are clearly the two best players in that group, so I'd imagine they will play at least 30 minutes if they aren't saddled by foul trouble.

Cronin has a lot of confidence in Jenifer (who looks very good through two games this year) and Kevin Johnson (a senior and defensive stopper), while Cumberland, a freshman, was a top 50 recruit.

Inexperience behind the two starters in the post could prove to be more problematic, however. Clark and Washington are both very good, but no other post players have any sort of meaningful playing experience. I'd imagine you would probably see a good bit of Evans at the 4 if either Clark or Washington gets in foul trouble because URI isn't very big. Scott, Moore and Brooks all bring different things to the table but I'm not sure any of them can be counted on for an extended period of time at this junction in their careers...

socrates wrote:UC has more bodies on the interior but the quality of player is definitely better on the perimeter.

You'll see five guys get solid minutes on the perimeter: Caupain, Evans, Jenifer, Johnson and Cumberland. Caupain and Evans are clearly the two best players in that group, so I'd imagine they will play at least 30 minutes if they aren't saddled by foul trouble.

Cronin has a lot of confidence in Jenifer (who looks very good through two games this year) and Kevin Johnson (a senior and defensive stopper), while Cumberland, a freshman, was a top 50 recruit.

Inexperience behind the two starters in the post could prove to be more problematic, however. Clark and Washington are both very good, but no other post players have any sort of meaningful playing experience. I'd imagine you would probably see a good bit of Evans at the 4 if either Clark or Washington gets in foul trouble because URI isn't very big. Scott, Moore and Brooks all bring different things to the table but I'm not sure any of them can be counted on for an extended period of time at this junction in their careers...

Sounds a lot like us.

Welcome to the board! My mother is a UC alum so we are looking forward to this game!

I wonder if you won't see some of our starters' minutes creep up into the high 20s and low 30s over the weekend. We've had the luxury of being relatively untested through two games and the third game against Brown should be more of the same. It is a good opportunity to get guys acclimated and take a look at some new guys, but in a tight game I assume we will see a slight scaling back, maybe not of the number of players seeing the floor but probably in the minutes played by some of the guys coming off the bench. I do think we will use our depth as a weapon throughout the season to keep everyone fresh, but some shift back toward favoring the starters is likely.

Yeah absolutely, no doubt in my mind that the starters minutes go up big this weekend. Unless we're still blowing teams out, which is ok with me to!

Higher, yes. But ideally Dan doesn't want anyone playing more than 31-32 minutes.

Welcome aboard 4th century BC philosopher!

I gotta say, this seems on paper like it'll be a phenomenally even game. From the looks of things we'll be in a press near the whole game, and will just be trying to force turnovers to the outside. I think interior defense can be a weakness for us if we get into foul trouble, but if we keep you on the outside and can force turnovers I feel great about our chances.

Will you and many bearcat fans be making the trip to Connecticut?

......love this discussion.....is this the Game 4: Cincinnati topic?......not being able to attend, this gives real meaning to listening to the game, thanks

Billyboy78 wrote:Higher, yes. But ideally Dan doesn't want anyone playing more than 31-32 minutes.

I don't think he will even think twice about going beyond that if this is a close game and there isn't foul trouble.

Blue Man wrote:Welcome aboard 4th century BC philosopher!

I gotta say, this seems on paper like it'll be a phenomenally even game. From the looks of things we'll be in a press near the whole game, and will just be trying to force turnovers to the outside. I think interior defense can be a weakness for us if we get into foul trouble, but if we keep you on the outside and can force turnovers I feel great about our chances.

Will you and many bearcat fans be making the trip to Connecticut?

Although I live in NYC, I will not be making the trip. I'm also not an alum (lived in Cincinnati until college) so I'm not sure what kind of UC contingent is expected.

adam914 wrote:

Billyboy78 wrote:Higher, yes. But ideally Dan doesn't want anyone playing more than 31-32 minutes.

I don't think he will even think twice about going beyond that if this is a close game and there isn't foul trouble.

True, but the cut in minutes will be in the first half and early to mid 2nd. Subs will start coming in 5 minutes into the game. I think Jared and Jarvis still get the most minutes with the breakdown being about 15 in the 1st and 17 in the 2nd.

The URI cincy game just got even bigger as Grayson Allen just went down with what looks like a best case scenario high ankle sprain. If Allen, Giles, Bolden, and Tatum can't go this weekend then I'd give both Cincy or URI the edge in that matchup. Especially URI with the depth that we've shown so far this year.

I saw Allen go down. Maybe he's really injured, but I don't know if you can assume he isn't going to play this weekend already.

Talk about counting your chickens...if duke has all those injuries they still need to get past Penn state at this rate. And yes we more than likely need to win haha.

Looked awkward but he walked off at least

Judging by the fact that Allen started the second half I'm going guess he's good to go this weekend.

Duke getting blown out is not good for us (or Cincy).

TruePoint wrote:Duke getting blown out is not good for us (or Cincy).

not good for us? jeez idk what is good for us then. Maybe we should add Bryant to the schedule, only if their coming off a win tho. Duke trailing Kansas by 8 with some of their squad out isn't too bad...

Duke just tied it! Wow!
75 all. Kansas ball. 8.2 left.

Frank Mason
Boom!

RIhoopz14 wrote:

TruePoint wrote:Duke getting blown out is not good for us (or Cincy).

not good for us? jeez idk what is good for us then. Maybe we should add Bryant to the schedule, only if their coming off a win tho. Duke trailing Kansas by 8 with some of their squad out isn't too bad...

Maybe you misunderstood my thought there - Duke is good. I'd rather run into a slightly complacent Duke than a pissed off Duke. Not sure what that has to do with Bryant. I was also going Duke would be #1 when we played them.

Duke will likely be ranked #2 or #3 now, when/if we play them.......still pretty good.....

actually the rankings won't come out until after the tourney.....

They will still be ranked number 1 on Sunday. Ranking come out every Monday.

This is the first time I ever really rooted for Duke as we may play them. Kansas looked really good in the second half . If we do play Duke we really need to block out Jeter and Jefferson down low

I think we should focus on Cinci. They're good. We can worry about Duke later

Yes we are now in fact on to Cincinnati as one local coach likes to say

Kenpom only gives us a 43% chance of winning

.....sounds like game 4: Cincinnati to me.....any point spreads out there?

Another UC fan here as well.

I'm guessing this is going to be a home game for you guys? I was told the arena is only 40 minutes from campus.

I'm expecting a hell of game which makes even more disappointed that it's only ESPN3. But either way this weekend, this should be a great learning experience for when we play @iowa st, @Butler and Xavier.

I'm interested to see who will be the favorite

This game will go down to the end.....the team that makes the plays in the last 3 minutes will win it....

It's time we're that team.....

Won't be a home game because duke fans will have purchased a very large amount of tickets for each session.

I will guess the spread to be rhody -1 or -2

When was the last time we were a top 25 team and we faced another top 25 team?

In 1999 when our Lamar led team beat Utah?

Anybody know if Mohegan will allow reentry in between the Duke and URI game?

I'm pretty sure we were ranked right around 23 in 2008 when we went to Dayton and they were 17th in the country. We lost to Dayton, beat Duquense, and then lost to a bad St. Louis team and bye bye top 25.

Interesting view of the URI-Brown game from coach Cronin and the upcoming game.

so pumped for this game

our time

let's go rhody !

Mick shows an impressive depth of insight into our team - specifically the trickle down effect from ECs injury last year on guys like Jared and Jarvis.

Due to the cost of the tickets I am not expecting much of a student presence at the game which obviously lessens the advantage of it being a home game for us. We really need to bring our "A" game and stay out of foul trouble. We need Kuran to play 30 minutes and to not commit any fouls 25 feet from the basket. Cincy's bigs are bigger and as strong as your average NFL linebacker.

This will be a battle. I'm so worked up about this game because there's so much on the line.

Cronin, after watching the Brown game video, feels better about our team than our "experts" here. No surprise.

There's a lot on the line for both teams tomorrow. HUGE game. It's gonna go down to the wire and I won't be able to take the stress. I'll be there with my Rhody crew and I'm gonna be obnoxious as I can. GO RAMS!

Good plan. Last time I felt like this before a big game in a NCAA-trending season was in 2008 when we had #10 Xavier in the Ryan Center on a Monday night for a nationally televised game (which of course we blew at the end when Seawright got stripped while standing 7 feet from half court). The Rams were 20-5 entering that game.

We proceeded to lose virtually ever game through the end of that season, as we know. That was then. Things are different now.

jmck wrote:Anybody know if Mohegan will allow reentry in between the Duke and URI game?

Last time URI played Ohio State at Mohegan reentry was allowed. Just make sure to scan your ticket by an employee at one of the exits.

That was a great clip of Cronin, thanks for posting that. Really interesting to listen to him.

On paper two very evenly matched teams, with similar styles. In the past UC has been the team to win the rock fight - physical, resilient, offensively challenged at times. Not so much the case this year, offensively they are more explosive and dynamic. Sound familiar?

My breakdown

Frontcourt: Slight edge UC
*Both teams have the reigning Defensive POY for their conference (Clark & Hassan), UC is bigger and has more quality depth but even with them there is a fall off if we can get Clark or Washington in foul trouble.

Backcourt: Slight edge URI
*More experience and proven scoring amongst EC, Jarvis and Jared. Stan is a strong 6th man used to big time competition and a defensive force.

Coaching: Slight edge UC
*Cronin has more proven success in big games, pressure is on Dan.

Intangibles: Slight edge URI
*Proximity to campus should give us a fan advantage. If there are lots of Duke fans, who will they root for? My guess, URI. After all we have a Hurley as our coach and I am sure they would rather play us than UC.

I am guessing the line is UC -2. Go Rhody!

Game Preview on ESPN.com

Things get serious for both No. 21 Rhode Island and No. 24 Cincinnati this weekend.

The ranked teams, both undefeated through their early tune-ups, square off Saturday at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn.

The winner likely will draw a Sunday matchup with No. 1 Duke, which opens Saturday against Penn State -- the only unranked team of the four. The losers also meet Sunday.

Read the entire preview: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... =400916488

KenPom has this a 2pt win for Cincy, 67-65 and gives Rhody a 43% chance of winning. His algorithms also predict a much slower pace of play with just 66 possessions (vs 73, 73, 70 in the opening 3 Rhody games).

http://kenpom.com/gameprep.php?g=571 (subscription required -- well worth it)

By the way, Bearcat fans are discussing this game over @ bearcattalk.com

http://www.bearcattalk.com/showthread.php?t=11272

UC releases mid week press conferences and post game on their Youtube. I haven't found anything recent for URI. Do they release their press conferences to youtube?


Matchups to watch:
Gary Clark Vs Hassan Martin: Defensive player of the year VS Defensive Player of the year. Both are good shot blockers with Martin having the Edge but Gary is much better at getting in the passing lanes and getting steals. If Gary is passive on offense, we could be in trouble.

Jacob Evans Vs E.C. Matthews: E.C. is a proven day in day out scorer for URI, Evans has been thus far for UC this year but can't go quiet in a game this huge. He did put up 26 and 9 in his first NCAA tourney game last year but Im interested to see him do it against another good team. This is a hugely interesting matchup. Evans can play really good D but im not sure if he has guarded a player like Matthews yet. Huge test for both.

Kyle Washington Vs Kuran Iverson: This is going to be a huge matchup. Kyle is the newcomer transfer for us and his presence has been huge so far this year. but URI will beat us badly if they get Kyle in Foul trouble. UC needs get its big to big passing on point like it was the first game of the year where gary and Kyle had 9 assists between the two of them. Kyle Washington's defense is the most suspect on the team and if they drive it at him like Iverson can do, Kyle could foul out early.

Troy Caupain Vs Jared Terrell: I think Troy will end up guarding Terrell not Garret. They are more alike size wise and TC will struggle with smaller quicker PG's. Troy is a stat stuffer, usually never turns over the ball, Gets steals, rebounds well and get his players involved. Evans may lead in scoring but the Key to UC's success will be how well TC plays. Needs to score and shoot more. I think Terrell is going to be tough to stop.protecting the ball will be huge for both teams.


Other notes (from a UC fan perspective): I will be interested to see what defense UC rolls out. For the first 2 games against lesser opponents, they used man to man, which they used pretty much never last year because of the bigs being too slow to do it. Our go to defense is the Match up zone ( or 25 as some call it) against good teams. It has huge weaknesses for the corner 3 and usually teams who aren't good 3 point shooters have their best game of the year against us. This is big reason why I think they worked so hard to bring Man to Man back in the fold. UC may dare Rhode Island to shoot, I just hope it doesn't back fire.

Interested to also see how well E.C. Matthews does against UC defense. UC has a knack for taking an opponents best player and shutting him down. That said, its usually the player that no one expected to play well, who ends up scoring the most on the opposing team and some times beating us.


I can't wait for Saturday, And regardless of the outcome, both teams are going to come out better because of it. Good news for URI is that UC didn't win any of its major non conference games last year. So if you beat us, please don't do it on a buzzer beater. Our hearts can't take any more of that sh*t